Simon Cox’s late equaliser against the Czech Republic on Wednesday has given Giovanni Trapattoni food for thought as the pieces of Ireland’s 23-man Euro 2012 squad begin to fall into place. The West Brom forward’s strike will do his chances of securing a place on the plane a world of good and brings his international tally to three in eleven games. Cox had fallen behind Stoke’s Jonathon Walters in the pecking order of late but the likelihood now appears to be that Trapattoni will bring all five of his regular forwards to Poland. The worth of fellow strikers Kevin Doyle and Shane Long to the team is long since proven with the former still in line to be this summer’s No. 9, spearheading the attack with captain Robbie Keane.
Meanwhile, the meteoric rise of man of the moment James McClean, whose introduction twelve minutes from the end drew a phenomenal reaction from the crowd, has given Trap a genuine selection problem in midfield. The former Derry City man has leapfrogged Stephen Hunt performance-wise this season to put himself in genuine contention, something that seemed so unlikely a matter of weeks ago. However, the seat of Hunt is virtually assured as are those of Damien Duff and Aiden McGeady. That leaves one spot left on the wings with McClean and the versatile Séamus Coleman looking the likely candidates for the job.
Wednesday night’s defence, missing recently-crowned Irish senior player of the year Richard Dunne, kept its predictable shape with Darren O’Dea filling the stalwart’s shoes. Trap faces few difficulties in his defensive selection, the order of merit long-established. The back four will be O’Shea-Dunne-St Ledger-Ward, O’Dea and Stephen Kelly being the go-to backups. Should the five-man attack materialise, a defender will most likely lose out due to the wealth of eligible midfielders vying for inclusion. Despite not getting game time against the Czechs, the seventh and final defensive slot should fall to Kevin Foley. Shane Duffy’s arrival at international level seems to have come too late for him to threaten the places of the more established defenders.
However, that call-ups for McClean and Duffy arrived at all signalled that Trap may just spring a surprise. Their inclusion undermined to a certain extent Trapattoni’s much-expressed wish to stick with the team that got Ireland to the competition in the first place. It should offer hope, if only that, not only to McClean and Duffy but also to hot prospect James McCarthy who has found it difficult to break into the side since sitting out last summer’s Carling Nations Cup.
Out wide, the ever frustrating McGeady showed signs of his unquestionable talent as early as the first minute but was anonymous for long stretches before making way for McClean. In the middle, the Whelan-Andrews partnership that has Xavi and Iniesta quaking in their boots continued. Paul Green, granted a cameo due to the absence of Darren Gibson and Keith Fahey, may have gone some way to earning a place in the squad after Wednesday. If he does so, he will do so at the expense of recent Everton signing Gibson who has yet to have a significant, consistent first team run for club or country in his career.
Despite the jovial mood in which the fans were sent home on Wednesday, there is no escaping the realities of the match. Ireland were bossed for long periods of time and struggled to create chances. Trapattoni has succeeded in making us a difficult team to score against, blast from the past Milan Baros aside. To have any chance of progressing from a group in which we are undeniably the weakest team, however, the team will have to do more than kill the game and hope for the best up front.
The Spain game this summer is as good as a write-off. Croatia, meanwhile, did as the Czechs did in their visit to the Aviva last year and left having shared the spoils of a game they should have won. Italy, though a shadow of their former selves, cannot be underestimated. Remember, it is only eight years since they won the World Cup. However, while we will go into the games against Croatia and Italy as underdogs, we could come out with results if we get the formula right. Stranger things have happened.
We’ve done well to get to the Euros. The fans are pleased enough at that. However, now that we’re there, why not throw caution to the wind and give it a bash? We are a position unlike the other three teams in our group in that we have nothing to lose. Finishing last in our group will be easy, at least let us do it in style.
Give it a lash, Trap!
“Rev it up and here we go.”
